Police Issuing Tickets Deal with Angry Pedestrians

HONOLULU (KHNL) - Following the latest pedestrian death, Honolulu police cranked up their efforts to make Oahu's roads safer.

"Ma'am, you can't be jaywalking, okay?" Officer Jim Cavanaugh, Honolulu Police Department, said to a pedestrian.

Doris Weinzheimer is about to get a jaywalking ticket. The 68-year-old is not happy about it.

"Your safety is our number one concern," Cavanaugh said.

"Oh no, it isn't! If it were, you wouldn't be causing physical injury to me now!" Weinzheimer screamed.

Officers, like Jim Cavanaugh, are stepping up enforcement of traffic safety laws, as Oahu continues its record-breaking pace for pedestrian fatalities. In the first two days of the campaign, police issued 114 citations and more than 150 warnings to pedestrians and drivers.

"Sign the citation," Cavanaugh said.

"I will not sign it!" Weinzheimer barked.

"Okay, okay, the fine is going to be $70," the officer said.

"Wonderful!" the elderly woman replied.

As tough as the encounter is, Cavanaugh is well aware that all 10 pedestrians killed this year were over the age of 55.

"Maybe this person, as you saw, will learn," he said. "Maybe they'll tell their friends, and people will stop getting killed."

Drivers also need to be alert.

"What are you doing, man?" Evelyn Bautista, pedestrian, called out to a truck driver.

We witness a close call, as one vehicle stops. The other, barely.

"See, that's how. When people are, people get hurt or hit by a truck, see, they don't stop," Bautista said.

"It is very frustrating, especially to the families and people getting killed," Cavanaugh said. "That's why HPD, we're stepping it up."

A driver who fails to yield to a pedestrian faces a $97 fine. A jaywalker could be fined $70 to $80.